Why would you have a personal vision or mission statement?
As it’s the start of the year I have recently spent some time thinking about my vision and mission for my coaching biz. What struck me was how the vision I have for my coaching, and the mission I feel it has, is so entwined with my own personal vision and the way I want to live. The two are intrinsically linked.
I’m sure we are all familiar with vision and mission statements – every group, business, organisation has one nowadays. The aim is to get the people involved and on the same page, ultimately helping the group, organisation etc be successful in what they want to achieve. You may have been involved in writing one for an employer or organisation, but have you ever thought about one for your own life?
What if we spent as much time getting to know who we are and what we want for ourselves? A personal vision or mission statement is a great tool for living life the way we want to, on our terms. It reflects our values and impacts the decisions we make and the options we choose. Our goals are a part of our personal vision, but the vision will rarely change whereas goals will. It helps us identify our purpose and what lights us up.
Your personal vision and mission statement give you your why – your reason for doing what you do? You can read more about this in my previous blog “Is "finding your life's purpose" important in today's world?”
Your Personal Vision
Close your eyes and picture yourself in the future. It may be a few months or years from today. See the person you are what you are doing, who you are with, what you have accomplished, what is important to you, and how people relate to you. How do you feel? Tune into this and then open your eyes.
Then think about how you’re living now. What needs to change for you to be living in line with your personal vision? This is not an exercise that is meant to bring feelings of dissatisfaction, but a positive experience for you to think about where you want to go, how you want to be and therefore what needs to be different to achieve that.
A personal vision is a picture of who you want to be, what you want to do, how you want to feel, what you want to own, and who you want to be spending time with. Your personal vision can give a framework for creating your life. How you get there is your mission statement.
Your Personal Mission Statement
A Personal Mission Statement is how you will bring your personal vision to life. Having a personal vision does not mean your life changes overnight. Your personal mission statement provides the steps to get you there. It’s starting from where you are and knowing where you want to be. I work with clients to support them to identify how to get from where they are to where they want to be. Providing the accountability, encouragement, and celebration to take the steps needed to live as their personal vision.
Your Personal Mission Statement should answer three questions:
What is my life about (your purpose)?
What do I stand for (your values)?
What actions do I take to manifest my Purpose and my Values?
Your mission statement impacts your goals and actions you decide upon.
“All the goals and decisions you will make in the future will be based upon it. It’s like deciding first which wall you want to lean your ladder of life against, and then beginning to climb. It will be a compass - a strong source of guidance amid the stormy seas and pressing, pulling currents of your life.”
— STEPHEN COVEY
Create the life you want
Creating the life you want and that fulfils your personal vision is achieved through taking action. It’s easy to stay as you are, maintain the status quo, even give up rather than take steps towards what you really want, especially as you reach midlife – it can feel too late, life’s not too bad as it is. Instead of thinking “it won’t happen for me” ask “why NOT me?”
This isn’t always easy with other people chiming in with their opinion – often it’s because they want to protect you – if you don’t take risk or action, you can’t fail. But as I’m sure you’ve all heard – the only failure is quitting or not trying. Taking small steps can make the biggest difference to how you feel, your confidence levels and feeling fulfilled daily. (Read more in my previous blog “Stepping out of your comfort zone.”)
So, What Is My Personal Vision?
When I attended Tony Robbins, Date With Destiny (Virtual) in December we spent time uncovering our values and mission statement. As you’ll see it doesn’t have to be long – a sentence or two summing up and providing that connection to your why mentioned earlier. The substance can be more behind the scenes in the goals and actions you set.
“The purpose of my life is to be a vibrant woman who lights up through empowering and serving others.”
This is the why of what I do, this is what keeps me going when it may seem hard, this is what I celebrate and strive for.
A great tool I use as a reminder of this and that brings it to life visually is my vision board. (In the process of updating at the moment.) The images, words, and quotes on it remind me every day. Read my article “5 reasons for creating a vision board” to learn more.
If you’re in the Worcestershire area why not check out the upcoming workshop, I am holding with Sharon Gisbourne Your Life Map for 2022 (and beyond). During the morning we will be using mandala, vision boards, meditation and more to support guests to create their personal vision for at least the next year.
We would love to see you but be quick as there are only 10 spots available.
Book Here - Your Life Map for 2022 (event now past)
To sum up – think about your personal vision and mission statement to help you decide on goals and the options you choose moving forwards. If you’re not sure where you want to get to, what you want to be doing how can you know what actions are going to get you there?
Collaborating with a coach can really help this process and the fulfilment of the actions – to find out more about working with me why not book a discovery call where we can chat further about how I can support you?